Bobst – New 20Seven CI flexo press uses Extended Colour Gamut

Up-close viewing of the 20Seven printing section during a recent open house event (Source: Bobst)

GERMANY • The new 20Seven CI flexo is the company’s latest contribution to deliver Extended Color Gamut (ECG) solutions for a variety of printing processes and applications.

As far as the use of (ECG) is concerned it is growing, although the trend is developing faster for some printing technologies and in some market segments than in others, everyone agrees that a steady growth in the next ten years is expected.

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To achieve accuracy and consistency, the frame vibrations are eliminated by firmly locking the print decks’ bearings. The 20Seven’s bearing bolts are tightened using a pneumatic tool, which applies the same torque, thus avoiding the variables derived from manual operation by different operators. The bearings are precisely kept in place as a result of the triangular geometry of the Bobst Trilock system.

The Bobst SmartFlo system does away with the variables that can have an impact on the uniformity of ink consistency and flow. These include ink variations owing to environmental factors such as temperature and light, change of viscosity due to peaks in the flow from the ink bucket to the substrate and inconsistent ink metering as a result of the ink pumps.

The third fundamental aspect is press drying efficiency. The new FSM (Full Surface Matrix) dryer provides a significantly higher efficiency compared with one-slot drying systems as the blast of air is applied to the substrate over the whole surface of the dryer through hundreds of small jets. This not only guarantees drying at high production speeds, but also enhances register accuracy as the web is evenly pushed against the CI drum. In terms of repeatability, the Bobst CI flexo presses rely on the smartGPS offline registration and pressure setting system.

Experience in ECG printing

A converting company with experience in implementing ECG printing is LitoPlas SA. Headquartered in Barranquilla, Colombia, the company has an annual production capacity of 350 million sqm of packaging. Luis Mora, Director of Marketing & Innovation at LitoPlas shared the experience of having 50% of their production printed using ECG on two Bobst flexo presses. The engaging presentation at a recent open house event set out some fundamental principles in terms of challenges and opportunities.

“ECG is a technology that leverages notable efficiencies and great printing quality. The downside is that it’s not a ‘plug-and-play’ technology. To have sustainable benefits, it demands hard work from all the supply chain involved. You need to empower the company´s culture engaging operators around the process philosophy, keep the process in control quantitatively and align customers to the final outcome because the benefits to all of the supply chain are true!” explained Luis Mora.